Glad to hear Mitt's gaining "cred" in the Beltway.

He sure isn't gaining it out here in the real world, and average voters aren't impressed by these insider "gets."

lylepink

I think he was referring to Romney hiring someone who used to be Delay's press spokesman.

I think someone who speaks as directly as Hagel would present a real challenge to Hillary Clinton who is a tortuous speaker who usually talks in Beltwayese.

Does Anyone have a possible answer for my 10:16am post about AndyR's reference to someone working for or being hired to work for TOM DELAY?

The "soon to be former governor of MA took a 'nice'step'with his recent hirings. . . I think NOT ! The names seen in this article related to Tom DeLay, the Bush-Cheney campaign and anything "PAC" related is exactly what I'm sick & tired of seeing and hearing about! The Nov 7 voice from the voters box should tell the politicians that we're NOT interested in "business as usual" in Washington, we want fresh, competent representation not corrupt, self serving glad handing !

A lot of the reasons Chuck Hagel looks so good to so many of us contribute to his being called "The Democrats' Favorite Republican." In other words, he's a whole lot like John McCain was 8 years ago. In that there is no solidly entrenched Establishment GOP candidate this time, he might fare better than McCain did then. But it seems unlikely to me right now.

Something tells me the road to nomination will be so rocky and unpredictable, we have no clue at this time who will carry the banner of either party in 2008 (though I strongly doubt Mitt Romney has an ice cube's chance in hell--he has absolutely nothing to recommend him). Sometimes a candidate sparks with the public and comes out of nowhere to win; sometimes a plodding insider rides an Inevitability Wave onto the ticket. And you never know beforehand.

Go for it, you Republicans! It would be great if you nominate a far right-winger who can't even carry his home state.

Chris, you forgot about Todd Henderson!

JayPe and JimD both bring up excellent points regarding Romney's candidacy. Be careful, however, about taking the support of social conservatives for granted. There are many within the Christian movement who consider Mormonism a "cult". As a professional pollster and a nontheologian, I am hardly qualified to judge. However, this certainly represents a variable that the Romney camp will need to address. I'm sure they are already planning responses and logic at a feverish pace.

TheIrishCurse: You young whimpersnappers are going to listen to the Old geezer when my favorite ticket of Clinton/Warner takes at least two of your Red States. These are Va. and Ohio and don't be at all suprised when they take more than these two. Get on the train it won't be long before it leaves the station.

I for one think it would be fantastic if the theonuts ran there own third party candidate..Then they can find out how truly inconsequential, in a national sense,they are...lylepink::i love your enthusiasm for HRC, but man she is frickin toxic..if she is the dem nominee she will not win one single red state, and like it or not for a dem to become POTUS gotta have a red state or two in play...

Andy R: " Also how is hiring someone who use to work for TOM DELAY a good thing?". I'm puzzled about who you are refering to. Please let me know who you are refering to so I will know what you are talking about. Thanks.

Lylepink,
I could beat your ticket of Clinton/Warner.

Also how is hiring someone who use to work for TOM DELAY a good thing? The man was a crook and I would be willing to bet so are most of the people that worked for him.

JimD: I agree with you on Hagel and another one to watch is Graham on the repub side but they can't beat my ticket of Clinton/Warner.

One last comment on Hagel, before I go to a business meeting - he does not speak like a politician.

You're right about Hagel, JimD. I wholeheartedly agree with you. What we will soon see is a battle for the future of the republican party. There are many fiscal conservatives who resent the big-government social 'conservatives'-- and since the most radical rightwing candidates [Santorum, Allen, among others] were defeated in this election, it could mean that the pro-AK47, anti-contraceptives extremists are losing power. Right now, both the 'party' and the 'movement' are accusing each other of losing the election.

I don't know how the R 'base' feels about Hagel -- or even who they really are at this point-- but I do think he would do well with independents, whose numbers seem to be growing.

Mitt, like Guiliani [see photos all over web of him in drag] may have some problems with the severe flipflopping and contortions he's had over gays, for instance:

'In 1994, Romney wrote to gay members of the Massachusetts Log Cabin Club that he thought it important that "we seek to establish full equality for American gay and lesbian citizens; I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent." He said that when running for the US Senate against Ted Kennedy.

During the 2002 campaign for governor, he was seen with his running mate, Kerry Healey, handed out pink fliers during Gay Pride parade in 2002 that supported gays

David Maril, of The Brockton Enterprise describes Romney perfectly as someone "has the ability to look as if he's responsible for accomplishments when little has happened. And when things go wrong, he projects an image of being blameless."

If I was a 'conservative' running against him in a primary, first thing I'd do would be to slap that quote on an ad, and ask Romney outright -- do you still believe it's important that "we seek to establish full equality for American gay and lesbian citizens"? And if not, what changed your mind?

I'd like to see him wiggle out of that one.

As usual I agree with JimD. McCain's just got too much baggage to win a general election now. His scurrilious remarks before the recent midterms will come back to haunt him if he pursues this.

I've long thought that Hagel was a good choice and has bona fide interests/credentials as a fiscal conservative. However, we didn't hear about him for a long time until recently when everyone began to realize that the most visible crop of GOP candidates sucks major wind.

I've heard comments that Hagel is not the most dynamic of speakers but haven't heard the rattling of any skeletons in his closet. Are there any blue Nebraskans out there with an opinion? Presumably he has some right-wing positions but isn't a total nutbar?

The Republican nomination race looks fairly wide open to me. McCain and Romney have the edge now in fundraising and organization but each has some serious obstacles facing him. A great deal of the Republican base hates McCain. Romney is trying to become the candidate of the social conservatives. That could be a hard sell for a former governor of Sodom and Gomarrah (I mean Massachusetts). Also, I personally know a great many conservative evangelicals who regard Mormonism as a cult and would never vote for a Mormon. Should Brownback enter the race, as appears likely now, he would be a more natural candidate for the most extreme religious conservatives. I doubt that Newt can go very far in the primaries - his personal life and mishandling of his Speakership would be two strikes against him. I particularly refer to how Bill Clinton continually outmanuevered Newt. Rudy Giuliani is an interesting candidate. Could he go deep into the primaries in a crowded field? Possibly, but sooner or later there would be a winnowing and a candidate amenable to the social conservatives would emerge. I think Giuliani's pro gay rights, pro choice, pro gun control positions plus his marital problems would ultimately doom a run for the Republican nomination. Were he to somehow eke out the nomination, there would undoubtedly be a third party challenge from the religious right which would probably ruin his chances of winning the general election. The candidate I find most intriguing is Chuck Hagel. He is the McCain of 2008 in my opinion. If McCain, Romney and Giuliani cancel each other out, Hagel could emerge as a viable candidate. To my mind, he is the most impressive of the potential Republican nominees.

"...Romney's the right pick--on national security, on life issues, on judges, on the economy. It's hard to envision any of the other candidates being able to go the distance against the Democrat-media complex. Mitt has. If the Boston Globe couldn't stop him, how can the New York Times?"

http://drtucker.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/2006/10/whos_the_man.html

How does he feel about Immagration? That is whats inportent to the southern states. And if he's one to jump on the band wagon just to get a vote it would please us so stir somthing up in WASHINTON PLEASE. No polliction has everdid what he or she promised before they were elected so what would it hurt. Here in TEXAS we hire MEXICANS that can't SPEAK ENGLISH toRUN OUR CITY WORKS DEPT. Call FRIENDSWOOD,TEXAS AND TRY TO GET SOMEONE THAT SPEAKS ENGLISH. GOD BLESS OUR MEN and WOMEN in the SERVICE GOD BLESS AMERICA

Something about America being the land of broadly shared prosperity.

Regarding murphy's post which commends Romney for "getting right into the thick of it" during the Big Dig chaos, I didn't see it as heroic or a sign of strong leadership at all. It was posturing and opportunism in a time of tragedy. Romney jumped in and made HIMSELF the headline...looking no doubt toward 2008. He gets no respect from me for this at all.

Romney is not only a hypocritical homophobe he will do or say anything to get elected. The following illustrates just want a scary dude this guy really is. Religious-Right Neo-Con to the max!

Be sure to watch the video too....VERY revealing
http://cms.pridedepot.com/modules/wordpress/?p=64
http://cms.pridedepot.com/modules/wordpress/?p=59

The Middle Class is what Leave It to Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, Bachelor Father, Father Knows Best, and the Flintstones, George Jetson, Walt Disney were all about...

everything that George Bush and related events, and one would surmise Romney is NOT ABOUT...

using demagogurey is what _they_ are all about... look it up.

theres no middle class to shift the tax burden to,

they will be coming to take away the low upper class next... doctors jobs going to India...

perhaps you should look here,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/29/AR2006082901042.html

for the rest of this,

Devaluing Labor

By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, August 30, 2006; Page A19

Labor Day is almost upon us, and like some of my fellow graybeards, I can, if I concentrate, actually remember what it was that this holiday once celebrated. Something about America being the land of broadly shared prosperity. Something about America being the first nation in human history that had a middle-class majority, where parents had every reason to think their children would fare even better than they had.

The young may be understandably incredulous, but the Great Compression, as economists call it, was the single most important social fact in our country in the decades after World War II. From 1947 through 1973, American productivity rose by a whopping 104 percent, and median family income rose by the very same 104 percent. More Americans bought homes and new cars and sent their kids to college than ever before. In ways more difficult to quantify, the mass prosperity fostered a generosity of spirit: The civil rights revolution and the Marshall Plan both emanated from an America in which most people were imbued with a sense of economic security.

That America is as dead as the dodo. Ours is the age of the Great Upward Redistribution. The median hourly wage for Americans has declined by 2 percent since 2003, though productivity has been rising handsomely. Last year, according to figures released just yesterday by the Census Bureau, wages for men declined by 1.8 percent and for women by 1.3 percent....

Find out what America outside the BELTWAY IS EXPERIENCEing, before you have to live it.

theres no middle class to shift the tax burden to,

they will be coming to take away the low upper class next... doctors jobs going to India...

perhaps you should look here,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/29/AR2006082901042.html

for the rest of this,

Devaluing Labor

By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, August 30, 2006; Page A19

Labor Day is almost upon us, and like some of my fellow graybeards, I can, if I concentrate, actually remember what it was that this holiday once celebrated. Something about America being the land of broadly shared prosperity. Something about America being the first nation in human history that had a middle-class majority, where parents had every reason to think their children would fare even better than they had.

The young may be understandably incredulous, but the Great Compression, as economists call it, was the single most important social fact in our country in the decades after World War II. From 1947 through 1973, American productivity rose by a whopping 104 percent, and median family income rose by the very same 104 percent. More Americans bought homes and new cars and sent their kids to college than ever before. In ways more difficult to quantify, the mass prosperity fostered a generosity of spirit: The civil rights revolution and the Marshall Plan both emanated from an America in which most people were imbued with a sense of economic security.

That America is as dead as the dodo. Ours is the age of the Great Upward Redistribution. The median hourly wage for Americans has declined by 2 percent since 2003, though productivity has been rising handsomely. Last year, according to figures released just yesterday by the Census Bureau, wages for men declined by 1.8 percent and for women by 1.3 percent....

Find out what America outside the BELTWAY IS EXPERIENCEing, before you have to live it.

Regarding the question about Romney and the Big Dig, look here:

http://www.romneyreport.com/archives/big_dig_disaster/index.html

Keep in mind that Romney has only had the authority to do anything about the Big Dig since this summer's accident.

Normally no politician would go near such a mess. Romney got right into the thick of it, and over the last few months has made significant overhauls of the project and the transportation department itself. That's some can-do leadership.

Those fine people at the Club For Growth will attempt to recruit a conservative alternative to Romney - perhaps South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.

http://intrepidliberaljournal.blogspot.com

Whatever you say about Romney (and people do!), he's assembling a very credible team. McCain had better watch out. If Romney is this organised this far out, he could gain a lot of momentum in the next 18 months.

If he can get past the Primary, he's got some great potential themes for the General:
- As a Republican I worked with Democrats in a liberal state.
- I rescued Salt Lake City Olympics from the complete mess my predecessor had left, I can do the same with the country.
- Unlike other candidates from Massachusetts I don't regularly make gaffes/mistakes.
- I'm a Washington outsider, with executive experience in business and politics.

Can he overcome the perception (reality?) that he was a moderate governor who "flipped" to become conservative to win the primary? He'd then have to "flop" back to win the General. Tough, but on his current showing, he's capable.

he was into HMOPHOBIA...

er eh, that is homophobia..that seems to have been his strongest characteristic...

looks like he's buying the same cutains as dealaide, Thomas q.

one can't ask for a better character recognition than Tom DealAide at his side...hes the man, the man wit the mideas touch...the slightest touch...

Anybody know if Romney has been personally implicated in the brewing scandal over the lack of oversight on the Big Dig, and the resultant death? I heard an inspector on a news report call it 'criminal negligence'...

R. Glenn Hubbard -- the loony founder of Scientology [who bragged to his friends who were science fiction writers that he could found a religion]?

Ooops, no, it's the equally loony faux 'economist' with the supply side voodoo economics ideas that have done so much to shift the taxation burden from the rich to the middle class.

More of the same steaming crap we have already.

Thank God ... Frist isn't running. He banned online poker.

Plus, he's an awful politician, and would get his head handed to him.